There are multiple ways USC can slip into the conference championship game. The simplest is by winning the division outright, which probably isn’t going to happen. The likeliest is by landing in a three-way tie with Arizona State and Arizona – and having UCLA finish fourth. Allow me to explain.

Two voters just weren’t enough for the Pac-12 Power Rankings. So this week colleague Ryan Kartje and I welcome our boss, Todd Bailey, to break some of those unseemly ties. Here’s how Week 3 turned out:

1. OREGON (2-0; PREVIOUS RANK: 1)

I said last week that we’d learn Oregon’s true identity against Michigan State. The game revealed that the Ducks are who we thought they were: legitimate national championship contenders.

2. USC (2-0; PREV. RANK: 4)

Speaking of national championship contenders … does USC belong in that conversation? I still think it’s premature. Depth will become a major issue for this team later in the season. And there are still landmines ahead (at Arizona, at UCLA).

As expected, USC was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 South in the conference's annual preseason media poll. The Trojans did receive one vote to win the Pac-12 Championship Game.

For the second season in a row, the media voted UCLA to win the South and Oregon to win the North. A majority of the media (24 of 39 votes) selected Oregon to win this year's conference title - the fourth time in five years that the Ducks have been chosen by the media as the league's best team. The only exception: USC in 2012.

UCLA received 13 votes to win the conference championship. Stanford received one.

Here's the full preseason poll from the first day of Pac-12 Media Days (first-place votes in parentheses):

USC's Nikola Jovanovic is one of 13 players scheduled to visit China in August and participate in a 10-day tour on behalf of the Pac-12 Conference.

Jovanovic, a forward who averaged 8.0 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Trojans last summer, and the team will play four games in six days, and also participate in clinics and visit historical sites in Shanghai, Nantong and Shenzhen.

In a statement released by USC, Jovanovic said, ''I am really honored to represent USC and the Pac-12 in the tournament and I will give my best to help the team win every game.''

For the second time in three seasons, USC basketball is off to an 0-5 start in Pac-12 Conference play, and things don’t figure to get much easier this week when the Trojans host Cal (on Wednesday) and Stanford (on Sunday).

Cal has a 14-4 record (5-0 in conference) and has won six consecutive games. Stanford is 12-5 and 3-2 in the Pac-12.

There are problems all over for the Trojans. Through five conference games, they rank 11th the conference in points per game (62.8) and tied for last in the conference in most points allowed per game (85.2). Their scoring margin, minus-22.4, is the worst in the conference by almost five full points.

USC has only one player, Byron Wesley, averaging more than 10 points per game this season. Wesley has been strong all around, with averages of 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds, and he is shooting 45.1 percent from the field.

Today, first-year Coach Andy Enfield talked today about some of his team’s issues...